Walking on Glass
by Zez
Summary: The life and times of Duchess Haruno Sakura, as written by Haruno Sakura. [Sasusaku, Naruhina, Nejiten.]


A/N: So here's the deal, this is AU. I know there are some people that don't like AU, I'm sorry, it's my guilty pleasure. This is inspired by Crown Duel, by Sherwood Smith. It has no plot in common, at all, but, the whole court setting and that era and stuff was inspired by her. You should all go read her book, it is amazing.

So, if I get any of the feudal stuff wrong like dukes and duchesses and stuff please tell me.

This is Sasusaku, so don't flame me if you don't like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I think that is blatantly obvious.

**Walking on Glass**

**Prologue**

The wind blew. The plants of the palace gardens swayed with the breeze. I looked around at the gardens. The bright pinks, blues, yellows, reds, and all the other colors blended in a wonderful medley. I looked to the rose garden full of red, pink, yellow, and white roses. In the rose garden was a small white gazebo. I spent a lot of time in that gazebo with the female courtiers of my age, having tea and what not. Near the rose garden was a small pond with a stream that flowed from it and through the entire garden. On the other side of the rose garden was a garden with a variety of plants from bushes to exotic flowers from other countries. The Count of the Yamanaka County donated many of the flowers in the gardens.

When leaving the palace to enter the gardens, there is a stone pathway. Statues of past heroes adorn to the sides of the path. The stone path way leads to a hedge maze. In the center of that maze was a memorial stone. On this stone were the names of the fallen in war. The maze ends and the stone path continues. It passes through the traditional garden and through the rose garden, leads to a bridge. Across the bridge stream was a field with wild grasses and trees scattered throughout it. Vast and wide, it seemed almost endless. It was a great place to go riding or run around and be free. Many of the courtiers practiced swordsmanship in this field. In the field there is a path. At the end of that dirt path is a lone Cherry Blossom tree with a bench by it. That is were I stood.

The gardens were the place that the younger courtiers would talk the most, since we did not have to deal with the matters of the court. It was also the secret way to get out of the palace without going past the stationed guards at the gate, as we found. No guards are stationed at that part of the wall, making it an easy escape route into the village. I had made many journeys out of the palace with Naruto and Sasuke. Sometimes we would bring others, like Neji and his cousin Hinata. _**I**_ was not escaping tonight, _**He**_ was.

The babble of the stream that flowed through the gardens could be heard, along with the melodious chorus of dozens of wind chimes. The white, matte bangles on my wrist jingled. My short pink hair flew in and out of place. The skirt of my red dress danced with the wind showing my gold slippers. On the edge of my dress was a white trim. As it skimmed across the ground it disappeared and repapered. The dress tightened at the waist with a white ribbon. The Haruno symbol, a white circle, stood boldly on my back. The white crystals on my necklace shined in the starlight. It was supposed to be a happy night, celebrating one of my best friends, but it wasn't. I fled the party early, complaining about not feeling well. I knew he would try to leave tonight. I just knew.

I watched him get closer. His dark bangs covering his handsome face. They covered his high cheek bones and noble nose. His pale skin was illuminated due to the contrast of his dark clothes. His sword clung to his waist in the decorative sheath with expensive leather working. It was black leather with a design of flames and the Uchiha was placed proudly above the flames. His navy traveling cape swayed with the wind, yet, somehow it was still defiant. That is what he was, defiant. Everything about him was. I couldn't see it, but I knew, the Uchiha symbol stood nobly on his back. My heart broke a little more at this image of him. So he was accepting that man's invitation. Nearer and nearer he came. He stopped a few feet in front of me. "What are you doing, wandering around here at night?" His voice was quiet.

"Because this is the path to get out of the palace undetected." I said. He began to walk again. The wind seemed to die down. Everything was still for this moment. It seemed even the heavens wanted to see if I could change fate. My Inner self was also noticeably quiet, waiting to see what happened and if she would be needed. Vaguely, I wondered if they didn't know if I could stop him or not. Maybe I was like one of those moments in life where it could go either way, when Fate never made her decision. Or maybe, the more sensible, sarcastic part of me thought, they were just looking for a show, a romantic comedy of sorts. This was no comedy, however.

"Go back to your party." He said as he walked around me. I stood still.

"Why?" I asked myself, quietly. A tear ran down the side of my face. I turned to him. "Why won't you tell me anything? Why do you always stay silent? Why don't you say anything to me?"

"Why do I have to tell you anything?" He interrupted. His voice was smooth as ever. Tears began to stream down my face. "It's none of your business. Stop concerning yourself with what I do."

I smiled bitterly as I turned my tear stained face from him. "You've always hated me, huh?" I shook my head as more tears fell. "Ever since the day we met." Looking up, my eyes were met with the Uchiha symbol, the fan. "You called my annoying. I still am aren't I? Do you remember?" Images of that day flew by in my mind. The day we meet in court. I remember Naruto Introduced me to all the other kids. I remember sitting by him during the lunch Ino's parents had for us. The things he told me. It came in a flash, and then it was gone. Almost as if his mind took the memory from my mind.

He didn't turn. "I don't remember," was his blunt reply. Sadness racked my body, making me shiver, but I tried to not let it show. Instead I faked happiness. A huge grin plastered on my face. What a horrible picture. My tear strained face with a goofy, Naruto like grin.

"Makes sense, it was a long time ago." I said. My voice cracked due to repressed sobs. Tears still poured from my eyes. In order to calm myself, I took a deep, shaky breath. I wished it had worked better. "I know about what happened to your clan, Sasuke-kun, not the watered down stuff the rest of the court thinks, but revenge? That won't make anyone happy. No one." A cloud passed over the moon casting an ominous shadow over him. The jewels around my neck stopped sparkling. "Neither you, nor me." I finished, looking at the ground. My short hair shifted forward, covering my eyes. The cloud passed. My tears and jewels sparkled anew. The shadow that was over him passed and he looked to be his normal self, but I knew that was not true. He would not be his normal self, not since we met that man in the forest.

"Just as I thought." My eyes were drawn to his dark form again and a small gasp escaped my lips. "I'm different from you guys. I walk a different path. I tried to think it was my path to do the things we've done up until now. We did things together, but my heart decided on revenge in the end. That's my purpose in life. I can't become like you or Naruto." Revenge was a kind of hypnosis for him. He always seemed to be in his own world, but at the mention of family, he was instantly aggressive.

I couldn't take it any longer. "Are you going to choose to be alone again?" I asked. "On that day, you taught me that solitude is painful!" I took my eyes off of his form. More tears fell. The dirt path beneath my feet had small water droplet marks on the ground, from my tears, not the heavens. "I understand that so well right now." My hands were folded tightly in front of my chest, hoping to keep my breaking heart together. More tears threatened to fall. I shut my eyes tight in an effort to keep the tears from falling, but it was no use. The tears would fall regardless. "I have friends, but if you're gone, to me, it'll be the same as being alone!" I cried.

There was a pause. "From here on, a new path will open for us all." He said evenly. Shocked at what he said, I looked up. After all I said he was still leaving.

I stepped forward. "I love you so much!" I said whole heartedly. If stopping him meant pouring out my broken heart, then so be it I thought. I took another step forward. "If you stay with me, I'll make sure you won't regret it! Everyday will be fun. We'll definitely be happy. I'll do anything for you." He hadn't moved. "So…So please! Stay Here! I'll help you with you revenge. I'll do something!" Still, no movement. I urged more. "So, please stay here, with me." My voice began to die down. In this moment, I realized that he would never stay, no matter what I did to try and stop him; even Naruto probably couldn't stop him by force, now. "If you can't stay, take me with you." I spoke, hardly a whisper. Sobs wracked by body and I began to sniffle. In that moment, however, I knew all hope was lost, but maybe he'd pity me. Maybe he would find it hard to refuse someone who had just poured their heart out to him, but I highly doubted that. I couldn't help, but feel pessimistic in this moment, even if I was an optimistic person.

He turned. **That** smirk was on his face. The one that is arrogant and self-righteous. The one he uses when he insults Naruto. "You really _are_ annoying." My eyes widened. That was the first time I heard some emotion in his voice the entire night, even if it was some kind of sick amusement.

Panic sank in as he turned and began to leave again. I had to do something fast, anything. I began to run forwards. "Don't leave!" I cried desperately. "If you leave, I'll scream." I had forgotten one thing. In a flash he was gone from my eyes. I gasped. I felt him behind me. I froze. His breath fanned out across the back of my neck. The wind seemed to pick up again. I shivered. It was getting colder. The cherry blossom leaves floated gracefully around us. It must have created a beautiful picture. We stood there for what seemed like hours until he said…

"Sakura…thank you."

I felt him hit the back of my neck. _A pressure point_, I thought, remembering a book I had read in the library not two days earlier. _Sasuke-kun…_I thought. Then darkness engulfed my vision, and I was out. The next day I woke up on my favorite bench, next to my namesake. My name is Duchess Haruno Sakura, and this is my story. It is full of drama, romance, sarcastic humor, and a dash of action.

BTW: I made some deliberate changes in the dialogue. This is also just sort of a teaser, I won't do everything according to the manga and just change it as I want, I have my own plot.

Thanks for reading and please review.

Oh, and BTW I'm Zez's cousin.


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